A police sergeant inexperienced in murder scenes told the Cape High Court on Tuesday of his shock at finding the corpse of a man bludgeoned with an axe in a duplex in Cape Town.
Sergeant Jaco Stears said a colleague of estate agent Andre Weitz had asked police to break into Weitz’s duplex at The Poplars security complex in Pinelands after Weitz had not contacted his office for three days.
Bernard van Zyl (28), Weitz’s former romantic partner, is alleged to have attacked Weitz with an axe in June 2004. Van Zyl, charged with murder and aggravated armed robbery, is on trial before Judge Daniel Dlodlo and two assessors. He has pleaded not guilty.
He is also alleged to have stolen Weitz’s car, clothing, toiletries, cheque book and wallet.
Defence counsel Justin van Rensburg told the court Van Zyl could not recall the alleged attack, and his defence to the charges was thus ”temporary non-pathological criminal incapacity”.
This is a defence — recognised by South African courts — where an accused claims he was in such a rage that he cannot recall the murder.
Stears told the court he informed Weitz’s colleague that it was not police practice to break into homes without a written request from a relative of the owner. This was obtained from Weitz’s sister, Marinda van Heerden.
Stears said he used a wheel spanner to get in, but found the home neat on the ground floor. He then went up the stairs, where he saw a body on the floor. ”This put me into a state of shock — I had not prepared myself for a murder scene, and had merely gone to the address to check if all was in order.”
Stears said he found blood splattered on the floor, on the ceiling and on the bed in the main bedroom. Closer examination of the corpse revealed a blow to the left side of Weitz’s face, which was covered in blood.
He also found an axe in Weitz’s bedroom, with blood on it.
Weitz and Van Zyl had been lovers in Bloemfontein, where Van Zyl had graduated with a BSc degree. They had then parted ways, with Weitz moving to the Cape.
The hearing continues on Wednesday. — Sapa